Manager of the Masonic Hall in Sudbury, Peter Thorogood, has written a book based on the tale of Henry Cronin Pratt, a bank manager in the town in the 1890s, who absconded with £17,000 worth of savings - more than £1m in modern terms.

What became of Henry Pratt has been a mystery but Mr Thorogood says his research has led him to believe he died a poor man in a New York tenement flat in 1922.

Using various historical sources, which Mr Thorogood researched over two years, the yarn- The Earl, The Rector and the Rogue - also reveals links to the notorious London Cleveland Street vice scandal of the time.